Craig Hill
KC Hill
Paladin
Oracle of DelphiThe Way Ahead for Europe
October 18th 2006 06:31
Greetings Blogophiles
On Sunday week I'm giving a lecture entitled "The Way Ahead for Europe - Nation States or Transnational governance". It's part of the Sydney Convivium of the Arts.
My lectures is based the premise that the primary role of government is to ensure civil peace with the borders of it's own country. Civil peace will only be established when there is the rule of law - that is to say that the people who live within the land regard each other as neighbors. Their primary loyalty is to their country not to a creed, religion, clan or tribe Furthermore, a society of neighbors will live peacefully when they willingly obey the law of the law. This crucial point. Obedience to the law cannot be enforced. Social cohesion relies on the vast majority of people willing paying their taxes, respecting the rights of others and living peaceable with their fellow citizens. But, they will only willingly obey if the law has a number of attributes: it must be one law for everyone and no one can be above the law. The citizens must feel as of they have a legitimate way of changing the law, they must feel a sense of shared ownership of the law, built up from a long history of settlement in a particular place.
National governments bring abut these attributes. They are answerable to their people for the law they pass. They are elected by their people who therefore feel a sense of connection with and affinity with them.
In contrast to this, transnational governmental bodes such as the UN, the EU, the ICC and so one are appointed not elected. They are not accountable for their laws, they are not answerable to those who must obey them nor are they burdened with the duty of implementing the laws they pass and therefore tend to be theoretical rather than practically connected with the populations they seek to govern. When a populace has it's national governance usurped and is obliged to obey laws they had no say in formulating and which are administered by a unaccountable body from which they feel alienated they tend to be come disconnected from the from the political process and refuse to obey the law.
The result is anarchy.
As the EU expands its powers with the proposed introduction of a European police force it runs the risk of dissolving the social fabric of the nation states which made the continent the power it once was.
On Sunday week I'm giving a lecture entitled "The Way Ahead for Europe - Nation States or Transnational governance". It's part of the Sydney Convivium of the Arts.
My lectures is based the premise that the primary role of government is to ensure civil peace with the borders of it's own country. Civil peace will only be established when there is the rule of law - that is to say that the people who live within the land regard each other as neighbors. Their primary loyalty is to their country not to a creed, religion, clan or tribe Furthermore, a society of neighbors will live peacefully when they willingly obey the law of the law. This crucial point. Obedience to the law cannot be enforced. Social cohesion relies on the vast majority of people willing paying their taxes, respecting the rights of others and living peaceable with their fellow citizens. But, they will only willingly obey if the law has a number of attributes: it must be one law for everyone and no one can be above the law. The citizens must feel as of they have a legitimate way of changing the law, they must feel a sense of shared ownership of the law, built up from a long history of settlement in a particular place.
National governments bring abut these attributes. They are answerable to their people for the law they pass. They are elected by their people who therefore feel a sense of connection with and affinity with them.
In contrast to this, transnational governmental bodes such as the UN, the EU, the ICC and so one are appointed not elected. They are not accountable for their laws, they are not answerable to those who must obey them nor are they burdened with the duty of implementing the laws they pass and therefore tend to be theoretical rather than practically connected with the populations they seek to govern. When a populace has it's national governance usurped and is obliged to obey laws they had no say in formulating and which are administered by a unaccountable body from which they feel alienated they tend to be come disconnected from the from the political process and refuse to obey the law.
The result is anarchy.
As the EU expands its powers with the proposed introduction of a European police force it runs the risk of dissolving the social fabric of the nation states which made the continent the power it once was.
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Go to Craig Hill's home page for information about corporate training courses, university preparation courses and writing services available
Go to Craig Hill's home page for information about corporate training courses, university preparation courses and writing services available
